It’s no secret that dinosaurs are a frequent topic of fascination for young readers—a fascination shared by paleontologist Steve Brusatte. Through a partnership with Nat Geo Kids, Brusatte serves as a consultant and fact-checker for many of their DinoMAYnia library of titles, which include Jurassic Smarts, How to Survive in the Age of Dinosaurs, and Big Words for Little Paleontologists. Brusatte spoke to PW about his enviable job, the irresistible allure of dinosaurs, and the joys of sharing Earth’s living “Jurassic legacy” with kids today.
You work as a paleontologist. What does that look like?
I am a professor at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, but I grew up in the middle part of America, in a small town in farm country not too far from Chicago. I have been fortunate to look for fossils all over the world, with many amazing colleagues. My job is a combination of fieldwork, lab work, teaching, and communicating science to the public.
When did you first develop an interest in dinosaurs?
Science was probably my least favorite class in school. I was not one of those five-year-old kids who knew the names of all of the dinosaurs. But my youngest brother Chris was. He was obsessed with dinosaurs, even turned his bedroom into a dinosaur museum, with a little library of dozens of dinosaur books. One day he asked me to help him go through his books to gather information for a science fair project, and that little request for some brotherly time had a huge effect on me. It got me reading about dinosaurs, thinking about them, and soon I was obsessed too.
From your perspective, why are dinosaurs so fascinating, especially for young readers?
I think dinosaurs are incredible. Today’s birds evolved from dinosaurs, so in a way they are still with us. But, there is nothing alive today that looks like a T. rex, or a Brontosaurus, or a Triceratops. These were fantastic animals, so much more astounding than any dragon or sea monster or unicorn that humans have come up with in myths and legends. But these dinosaurs were real! We can find their actual fossils!
Tell us more about your partnership with Nat Geo Kids and the DinoMAYnia books.
I’ve had a long relationship with National Geographic, beginning informally of course as a reader of the magazine when I was a teenager, and then continuing as a professional scientist. National Geographic has funded some of my fieldwork on the Isle of Skye in Scotland, and without their support, we wouldn’t have discovered all of these amazing Jurassic-aged dinosaur footprints and bones. I also love working with National Geographic to communicate science to young audiences. I’ve worked with them now on, I think, five books. For these, I serve as a consultant and fact-checker, and sometimes provide images and stories to include in the text. I love it. There is no bigger platform for communicating science to kids than National Geographic.
How do you make paleontology accessible to kids?
I think dinosaurs and other fossils are naturally fascinating. I don’t have to put on a big show to convince a first-grader that T. rex is awesome. So what I try to do is take advantage of that natural fascination, and use it as a hook to show children how science works, how we make new discoveries, and what scientists are like as people. And to show them that they, too, can become a scientist one day.
What do you hope readers take away from reading books like Big Words for Little Paleontologists, Jurassic Smarts, and How to Survive in the Age of Dinosaurs?
These books are all really fun. Two of them, Jurassic Smarts and How to Survive, are ones that I consulted on. I can directly vouch for their accuracy and authenticity. I think they are some of the best science books for kids out there. Engaging, but full of real facts. I hope that the children reading them realize that science is an adventure, that science is fun.
How can studying Earth’s past and the animals that once lived here teach us about the future?
The world is changing very fast today. It’s getting hotter, storms are getting more severe, sea levels are rising. We should be concerned, we should do what we can to understand these changes and stop them. But nothing that is happening today is new. Global warming and rising seas have happened many times before throughout the 4.5 billion year history of the Earth—just for different reasons, usually because of volcanoes and continents moving around, and not human activity, which is causing today’s changes. Dinosaurs and other fossils are clues from prehistory. They are real plants and animals that had to deal with real climate and environmental change, and we can learn a lot from that.
Sometimes adults lack the natural curiosity about science kids have. Any suggestions for holding onto that passion for learning?
I have a four-year-old son and his curiosity astounds me. Like, how do you find that paper towel roll so interesting? How do you turn it into a whole story about a rocket in outer space, a game about submarines cruising through the ocean? Adults just don’t usually think like that. So I think we need to put in more of an effort to engage in our creative side, in learning new things. I think high quality scientific engagement, like excellent television documentaries and well-written pop science books, can awaken that wonder in adults.
What do you wish you’d known about dinosaurs when you were a kid?
That they weren’t truly extinct. I was a teenager when I discovered that today’s birds evolved from dinosaurs, meaning they are part of the dinosaur family tree, meaning that there is still a Jurassic legacy in today’s world. I think that’s awesome, such an evocative link to the deep past of our planet.
